India's Wholesale Inflation At 2.38% In February

India's wholesale price inflation was at 2.38% in February, in line with a print of 2.31% in January, data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Monday.

While wholesale inflation in primary articles declined, led by easing food article inflation, the month continued to witness an increase in prices of manufactured products.

Within the food basket, vegetables such as potatoes led the decline in prices.

ICRA expects the WPI-food inflation to soften further in March 2025, aided by robust output and fresh arrivals. Besides, the sharp dip in global crude oil prices in March 2025 vis-à-vis February 2025 will also exert a downward pressure on the WPI-crude, petroleum and natural gas print for the ongoing month, Rahul Agrawal, senior economist at ICRA, said. "Overall, we expect the March 2025 WPI inflation to print at the levels seen in February 2025, implying an average of about 2.3% in FY25," he said.

Looking ahead, while healthy crop output and an elevated base is expected to lead to further cooling in the WPI-food inflation in the near term, higher-than-normal temperatures pose an upside risk to the food inflation trajectory, according to Agrawal.

• Inflation in manufactured products—the largest component of the index—rose by 2.86% versus 2.51% in January.

• Primary articles inflation at 2.81% versus 4.69%.

• Inflation in food articles—a sub-component of primary articles— rose 3.88%, compared to a rise of 5.88% in January.

• Fuel and power inflation at -0.71% versus -2.78%.

• Vegetables: -5.80% in February vs 8.35% in January, potato: 27.54% vs 74.28%, fruits: 20.88% vs 15.12%.